Venting a bit, but also wondering if anyone has seen/known about this because I feel like I missed the memo or something.
I’ve attached a BAQ for you to test the process yourself, if you are so curious AshQuoteRegTerRep.baq (22.6 KB)
When you have a Quote-to-Cash scenario, you may do a query like the attached because Epicor allows you to change the territory on a quote (to one that differs from the customer) - and for reasons unknown to me, we do this. Which means a standard “invoiced sales report by territory” must have a similar table/link set involved in order to properly categorize the data.
What we’ve noticed is that a BAQ will not show quotes whose Territory is marked Inactive yet the Customer Tracker will show quotes whose Territory is marked Inactive. This is observed and tested in both 10.1.500 and 10.2.200. The issue with this is that you can never write a regular BAQ that shows the same data as the Customer Tracker once you have made any Territory inactive.
So we opened a ticket, and this is what I got back from support. While technically accurate, I want to call BS.
I have reviewed the paperwork trail on your request and it was Rejected for two reasons - one good, one not so good:
The logic used in the BAQ is the same logic used in the “Base” Quote Search and the Base Search does not return Quotes with an Inactive Territory. Further, the same Search Form does not show Inactive Territories in the Territory drop down filter.
As the BAQ can be used as a Search - BAQ Search / Quick Search - it would be problematic for the results to differ from the Base search. Good reason.
Your Issues was turned in to a Development “ticket” which was picked up for resolution. Questions were raised about the inconsistent behavior: You can’t get the Quote in a Search but you can pull it up if you know the number and it is also available in the Tracker. The developer did not get a timely response to the questions raised and as the original request was to allow a BAQ to return Quotes with an Inactive Territory and due to Reason 1 above, the request was rejected. Not really a good reason.
The inconsistent behavior outlined in Reason 2 is problematic and I will pursue further “clarity” on the tangled web.
Update: Inconsistent behavior of not being able to search for a Quote with an Inactive Territory and yet being able to view the Quote if you know the ID has been deemed an “Oversight” and will be sent to Development for resolution. Likely resolution will be to add an Option on the Search to “Include Inactive Territories”.
Regardless of how it is resolved, once the inconsistency has been addressed, the logic in the BAQ will need to be reviewed to ensure it matches the base application.
@Rich - I cannot thank you enough for ‘taking my case’ and providing the inside scoop - and for your part in prompting the discussion with development on this “oversight”. I know that the dropdowns filter on the flag, but now I better understand about the BAQ search aspect and how it causes a bit of chaos in the overall concept of ‘territory security’.
It’s a little odd that we have not noticed this before now, but we have had some new/strange internal changes that brought all this to light and I appreciate having the info needed to explain it to my folks. The more I can dispel the “Why (WTF) did Epicor do that?” sentiment internally, the easier my job is!!
This is exactly why this site is so - important - helpful - critical - useful - to the success of Epicor and it’s user community. For all of us who participate here, the sharing of our knowledge combined with a little ‘insider’ assistance is a formula for success for both us and Epicor.
And it is interactions and responses like this from Epicor (@Rich, @Bart_Elia, @pferrington, @timshuwy, and many others) that makes this site worth it’s weight in gold to us out here trying to keep the world running.
The simple fact that Epicor folks are so accessible - and helpful - is one of the reasons I continue to promote (and stay with) Epicor.
Are you saying that the results from a BAQ used in a search, can be overridden by the form?
I’d have thought that any BAQ that returns QuoteNum, could be used for a BAQ search in the Quote form. And that BAQ’s results would be returned in its entirety. This is not true?
As Rich said, Territory Security is problematic is more ways than this. But yes, it seems that the system provides different results depending on where you query - BAQ or Tracker in my instance - and that is unacceptable. We can get around it like Bruce said, and we have been using SSRS custom reports & subscriptions up to this point so we didn’t notice it. Now we are trying to use BAQ-based data discovery views and found this issue.
The other territory security problem we have is that there is no possibility of territory crossover query/reporting. For example, the US is broken into four territories - each assigned singularly to a travelling salesperson. Sometimes these customers are ‘national’ like for example Kraft Foods. Our sales people are responsible for sites within their territory regardless of home office location, but when you assign Kraft to a territory (based on home office or something), then the sales people in the other territories cannot see that customer record - or any quote/order history for them. So we have to duplicate that customer into each territory and then figure out how to do summary reporting for Kraft Foods.
Territory security is nice and useful depending on your corporate structure. And we could do ‘view all territories’ at the salesperson/workforce record, but that effectively is an “off” switch for the entire territory security layer.
At the moment it’s difficult for us to use any of the internal reporting capabilities that are customer/territory based, so we’re just using workarounds but as we want to take advantage of new tech like EDD and EDA, we cannot reconcile between the query levels. How is a salesperson to ever know what is really correct?
Hi,
I want know if there is solution for this?
I receive a reply from support, “my recommendation would be to verify the possibility of a customization or personalization for this screen”.
Any advise on how to do cutomization or personalization?
My version is 10.2.200
